Helped
by msknowitall
Summary: HPTS- SPLUTTERS and SPARRING. Katherin/James/Louis centric   Katherin is James' Potions Partner and James realizes she is not like most people.


A.N. '_Louis'_ is pronounced the way it is by birth or the French way, Lou-ey. 'Louis' is pronounced the American way, Lou- iss. It is like this in all my Fanfictions because _Louis_ is called Louis by James, Katherin, and Rose because it annoys him.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own this. If I did, why would I NOT be rich?

James stared ominously at the pewter cauldron filled with boiling water. His eyes were glazed and partially focused on the flames licking at the outside shell of the cauldron. He groaned inwardly knowing that in a few minutes he would be forced to brew some potion in it.

"Class, open your textbooks to page 43 and brew potion number 3. At the end of the bell tell me what potion it i-"

"It's the draught of the living death." James rolled his eyes at her too-close-to-him voice.

Professor Haneline turned suddenly to the girl sitting next to a Mr. James Potter. "Very good, Markus, 10 points for being correct, 15 for not having to brew it first, so… 25 points to Gryffindor."

James groaned aloud this time, a few Slytherins joined him and a few Ravenclaws looked daggers at James' partner. He gave a nasty look at a Hufflepuff mumbling something along the lines of 'why would he be mad, she's making up for the points he lost earlier this year'. His head that was lying on his crossed arms turned from the guilty cauldron to the girl. His chin dug into his wrists but he didn't care. He glared at his partner; she had forced herself to that seat, probably because it was the only vacant seat toward the back of the room.

Katherin Markus Knowitall Extraordinaire.

James glared continually before feeling eyes bore into his own back. He turned a little in his seat in the direction of the accused eyes. He saw Louis holding his muggle notebook up and in large ink letters had written. SHE WILL GET YOU AN A!

James groaned again. He could get an A on his own, but he didn't really like potions. "Markus, how can I offer my services?" He looked up to see her surprised face.

"I don't need you to help." Her face furrowed in confusion, and James could feel his own face doing the same thing.

He looked as she adjusted the flames under the cauldron then grabbed her wrist. "I'm offering help and you won't take it?" He didn't want to be told he was useless, which was her silent comment.

She looked at where he had grabbed her arm then back up at her. She looked scared almost a hurt expression in her eyes. James immediately let go of her arm. "I just don't want you to foul up my grade, I know you're good at potions, you got that from your grandmother… but I just want to earn my grade on my own."

James swallowed. He didn't know an awful lot about his grandmother. At least not the one Katherin was talking about. She must have been referring to his Dad's mum since Gran could cook but wasn't that good with gross things. Only God knows how she got through with the children she had after being at Hogwarts as a squeamish potioneer. "How do you know that?"

She had started crushing the seed pods and she occasionally stirred the contents of the cauldron. "It's in her record if you look hard enough." Katherin shrugged, as if looking up your partner's grandmother wasn't out of the ordinary. Of course, for Katherin it wasn't.

James still wasn't very happy about this girl that had so little to do with everyone around him. She was a know-it-all, she had very little social skills, and she was never really interested in anything. Then he realized he had said his thoughts out loud.

He turned slowly to Markus who was looking at him with a disgusted stare. "Well, you're not a walk in the park either." She plunged her hand into a jar of newt eyes and claws. James kept in a laugh when the Ravenclaws looked sick at the next table over after watching Markus do that. "Peel these."

She ordered him with a flourish of her newt-juice encased hand. Some of it got on his lips and he immediately licked them, subconsciously of course, but then gagged for a few seconds. Katherin laughed. It was a low stifled laugh but it rang with the same flitting joy as most of her laughs did.

James' insides melted a little, but he _knew_ that that was because of the vinegar al a newt was inside of him. He started peeling the newt eyes and chanced a glance back at the Ravenclaws who were whispering and snickering, and probably trying to remove there minds from their newt-y ingredients.

James plopped in about half the eyeballs, and looked to Katherin waiting for her to notice. Her head snapped up and she turned to him, "Why didn't you put all of them in?"

"I wanted to make sure you were paying attention." _-and you would look up at me._ He dumped the rest of the eyeballs in then stirred 3 times. He grabbed a pepper and started to chop it into slices. Katherin nodded accepting the finality of his statement and went back to work.

James had to admit he liked the way she was quick to the point with most things. If you finished a conversation she would let it end, unlike Lily who would just keep talking like you hadn't said anything. She would let a conversation end and leave it, or she would tell you exactly what she wanted you to here instead of talking circles around it forever before getting to the point.

She stirred the potion three times to the left then once to the right. He dumped in the pepper and the rest of the bean pods she had crushed. James slumped back down into his seat waiting for the teacher to come check it.

Professor Haneline made her way slowly to the raised hand of her star pupil. Katherin was jittering up and down with excitement. "Well, it looks good." The professor dropped a newly picked petal from her orchid at the front of the room into the concoction. "Beautifully rendered."

Katherin smiled brightly and James could tell she was bottling up her excitement and sending it to sea for a later date. "I tried my best, Professor."

"That you did, 98." She smiled. Professor Haneline never gives out hundreds, getting a 98 means she must really like the person receiving it.

James turned to Katherin. "Show off." Katherin crossed her arms defensively.

Professor Haneline then turned to James, "You, Potter, didn't even participate in the assignment. I have deducted 30 out of 35 participation marks from your grade." Katherin tried to interrupt but Professor Haneline kept going. "Though you have a good partner so you still pass because you have a 63 out of 65 on your potion."

"Professor he helped." Katherin pushed her sentence forward without a waver in her voice or the shyness that had been every present in her whenever around teachers. James turned to her astounded at her thoughtful-ness, he even wondered why it was directed in honor of him. James smiled at the Professor's expression, it was mostly red-ish faced but there were white blotches from the muscles tightening under the skin.

James smirked at the teacher wondering how she would chew on this new Katherin. Not that she would be around for long, just that she was definitely different.

The professor huffed and turned away, Katherin leaned to the side to read the grades where she was scribbling furiously. Katherin then sat back with a pleased grin. "You have a 94 now."

James nodded and watched the fumes of the potion waft in the air. "Thanks."

Katherin let the conversation fall turning to her notebook and textbook starting her homework.

James watched for a reply, by now he had learned that after a 'thanks' she usually takes time to answer. It seemed to him that a 'Thank you' threw off her thinking process. She wasn't though, she was writing down answers. James grew impatient. "I'm waiting."

Katherin's pencil waited, too. It stopped; James knew she was actually thinking this time. He didn't know why he knew, it was a feeling in his stomach. "Well, I only told the truth."

Her eyes were looking at him from the corner of her eye making him feel a bit awkward under her gaze. James then put his head on his hands, lowering his head to be slightly below hers. He grinned at her face until her found himself too close to her face, and his face turning red because of it. "Either way, Thanks." He closed his eyes and tried to forget how close she was. After a few seconds he no longer felt her breath tickling his lips and nose, so he peeked an eye open. She was writing down her work furiously with a maroon colored face mask.

James figured she looked nice, and you could see the slightest of freckles, but James figured he was just seeing things, so he closed his eyes again.


End file.
